MAZEL TOV!

04.17.14

Hillary Clinton Achieves Her Other Dream: Grandma

Chelsea Clinton shocked her mother, the audience, and America when she announced she’s pregnant. With one Clinton presidency done and another one possibly starting, this could be the making of a dynasty.

NEW YORK—“Few women can steal the spotlight from Hillary Clinton,” one attendee at a Clinton event said Thursday, but Chelsea Clinton managed to do just that when she announced she’s pregnant.

The room at the Lower East Side Girls Club, comprised of tween girls, members of media, Clinton loyalists, Anna Wintour, and America Ferrera, burst into cheers at the news.

Though it was billed, “Girls: A No Ceilings Conversation,” Chelsea said she and husband Marc Mezvinsky don’t know if they’re having a boy or a girl.

Is this a political dynasty in the making? Like the progeny of other powerful political families, including the Bushes and the Kennedys, there is growing speculation that Chelsea Clinton will seek office someday, particularly after recent comments in which she did not rule out the possibility.

Today’s media frenzy surrounding her pregnancy announcement makes it clear that if she does choose to, Chelsea will enjoy a measure of name recognition and host of other advantages potential candidates not raised in the White House can only dream of. Today’s attention also proves she will likely face a greater measure of scrutiny.

Marcia Dyson, a long-time Clinton supporter and surrogate for Hillary’s 2008 campaign later remarked on how poised Chelsea is and what a delight it has been to see her grow into the woman she is today. Like most of us, Chelsea endured her share of awkward years as a teenager, but unlike most of us she endured them publicly.

That clearly was not cause for concern for her or her world-famous mother today. They were too focused on the cause for celebration: namely that there is now another generation of Clintons coming into the world, and maybe one day into the world of politics. According to former President Clinton, this more than the presidency has been the Secretary of State’s dream. He once told Politico: “I would like to have a happy wife and she won’t be unless she’s a grandmother. It’s something she wants more than she wanted to be president.”